middle class tax cut which president obama certainly doesn't want and campaigned against. it's not really good messaging. however, there is one thing. the liberal opinion writer, michael kinsly once said you make a gaff when you speak a truth. there is a certain truth in the sense that if you're actually fighting two wars, trying to overhaul the health care system, insure all americans and at the same time try to reduce the deficit -- again, the deficit, what was in the discussions with geithner and summers, that you're going to have to raise taxtion, not only on the rich, but probably everyone else. right now the white house isn't talking about any kind of deficit reduction that would call for a tax increase on the middle class. if you wanted to do all those things, you would have to raise taxes on everybody. >> seems to make sense. mark, thanks. the bank of america is in big trouble for lying about its acquisition of merrill lynch. b of a told shareholders merrill would not pay a year-end bonus or bonuses, but merrill was

authorized to shell out almost $6 million in bonuses, about 12% of the total purchase price. bank of america has agreed to pay a $33 million penalty. dealers are complaining they can't keep up with cash for clunkers demand. chrysler is backing away from its promise to double the incentive because its dealers are running out of stock. the government program might end anyway unless the senate votes to add more money to the pot. less than an hour ag grow andrea mitchell got this prediction from transportation secretary ray la hood. >> the house passed it with over 300 votes. that's a big, big majority. we're working very hard with the senate and senate leadership to make sure all senators understood how wildly popular this is, how good it is for the economy, how good it is for the environment, and we believe the senate will pass it this week. cnbc auto expert phil la grang.

>> reporter: contessa, we're seeing this at this fort dealership where we're at. we were here on saturday. the lot was full. about a third of the vehicle spaces are now empty. most of those were filled by small cars, the ford focus being the principal one flying off the lot. today we saw a lady come in. she has not bought a new car in her life, a great grandmother traded in an '86 minivan getting ten miles to a gallon buying a new ford edge. that's the kind of demand we're seeing. if the program is not extended by the senate, the white house has already said it's unlikely there will be enough money to make it to next weekend. a lot of people are saying, i'm going to go into a dealership in the next day or two or i'll miss out on cash for clunkers. >> the interesting thing is, if it takes $4500 to von vince you -- >> i've never bought a new car in my life either. it makes you think about it. is it time for me to go out and trade in an old vehicle for a

new one? maybe. maybe it's because the cars are priced too high or we do love a deal and saying you're getting something, some kind of incentive might cokes you to go to the dealership. what are the dealers saying? is there any thought of pricing the cars lower? >> reporter: no, they're not going to price the cars lower. what you're seeing here is the impact of the low residual values on suvs that we've seen since the middle of last year. remember in the middle of last year suv used prices plunged dramatically as gas prices shot up. many people said, if i go in and trade this in for a smaller car, i'm not getting much. i'm better off just riding it out and figuring at some point in the future when i feel more comfortable with the economy how to get rid of this suv. now they have a chance with the government saying here is $4500 and the chance to get into a fuel efficient car, that's the impetus a lot of people are using to say i can make the monthly payments work. >> phil, thank you.

the goals of this program were to improve the environment, boost the economy and help consumers. here are my big questions on cash for clunkers. if it accomplishes those goals, why not fund it to a greater degree? on the other hand, why is the government responsible forgetting people new cars, and automakers an improved bottom line? i do think the government is responsible for improving the environment. so the question here, would $2 billion be better spent investing in alternative energy? i'm going to try to get some answers on those questions. it's official here. katherine jackson has custody of her three grandchildren. at a hearing today in los angeles a judge approved the agreement reached between michael jackson's mother and his ex-wife debbie rowe. rowe was not in court but her attorney applauded the judge's decision. >> today's result, 5 1/2 weeks after the tragic death of michael jackson, eliminates uncertainty and offers some stability to the lives of these children. nbc's jeff rossen outside

the courthouse. i understand the judge allowing a family for katherine jackson. tell me about that? >> reporter: katherine jackson asked the court a couple weeks ago for a family allowance out of the private trust, saying i need money to live and raise these kids. michael jackson, the family contends, basically took care of him. now that he's gone, so is the money, the income. they asked to borrow off that. the judge today said no problem and will start giving the family an allowance to take care of the three children, paris, prince and blanket. no dollar amount was put on that today. important to note, to keep you updated on where we are right now, there's a recess happening right now. they handled the custody this morning. as you mentioned, the judge pushed that through as we expected him to do now that debbie rowe will get visitation, katherine jackson will get full custody. they're also now in the afternoon going to tackle the probate, the estate questions. that's a real big question, something that could drag out

for months or even years because there's a lot of money at stake. our producer inside the courtroom now says there are 17 lawyers by his count involved in this. remember, you have aeg represented here, katherine jackson involved in the jackson family, aeg, sony, other entities as well. everyone has a stake when you talk about how big the michael jackson empire was. they're all sort of meeting behind closed doors right now. they'll tackle the et cetera state which is a big complex issue this afternoon. >> thanks for keeping us in the loop. right now following breaking news on haz mat in massachusetts. authorities say more than two dozen people were exposed to poison ous gas at a city trash hauling company. six people fell unconscious. 26 people had respiratory issues, breathing problems. they were taken to area hospitals. at least one person we're told is in critical condition. they're still looking at what caused the gas leak in the first place. secretary of state hillary clinton today is urging the

iranian government to figure out where the american tourists are. they don't have official consultation that the iranian government is holding the tourists. the u.s. is asking switzerland to intervene since we don't have diplomatic relationships with iran. >> we are concerned. we want this matter brought to a resolution as soon as possible, and we call on the iranian government to help us determine the whereabouts of the three missing americans and return them as quickly as possible. >> two men and a woman reportedly were arrested after crossing into iran from iraq while on a hike. still ahead, a continental airlines flight en route to texas forceed to make an emergency landing in miami because of severe turbulence. wait wait until you hear how many people were hurt. town hall meetings gone wild. some lawmakers actually are

starting to -- wrong video here. some lawmakers are starting to fear for their safety. they're trying to reach out to their constituents, but it's just turning into a big old mob scene. is that democracy in action. school may be out, but not necessarily for the first daughters. coming up, what sasha and malia are doing at camp obama. )d)d)d)d

hello everyone. i'm contessa brewer. tough times for a florida family. after 18 years they just learned their loved one was killed in the first gulf war. in fact, pilot scott speicher was the first casualty of that invasi invasion. the pentagon says it's positively identified speicher's

remains. an iraqi civilian led them to the buerhle site. he was buried in the sand. with me is speicher family spokesperson cindy lockwood. good to talk with you today. tell me the reaction of speicher's family when they found out and got the confirmation? >> the extent of the knowledge at this point is that there's been a confirmation of scott's death, that they've confirmed the skeletal remains. further details, while we've heard them through the media, have not been reported directly to us by the navy and are in conflict with what we understand the facts to be. so we'll stand on that. the family is going through what families go through when they've lost a loved one. they're appreciative of the actions of the active duty military here in getting the incident we knew we could get in resolving the matter. with that, there's some peace. >> i think when you're looking at this as an outsider, one of

the difficult things to imagine is so many twists and turns. first he was declared killed in action. then he was missing. they didn't know if he was captured. was there a prevailing censor a hope or a belief in that time about what the family might find sooner or later? >> yes. from '98, which is well before the story broke in public which was 2001 -- from '98 until midway through 2003 there was a lot of good information, a lot of optimism. thereafter we started narrowing it into scenarios, both with their intelligence, department of defense's intelligence and our own. we were trying to be methodical in going through those scenarios. general dayton was extremely helpful to us when for a brief period of time during the war he was assigned in cutting through

some of the false intelligence that had been gathered. but it has been up and down. but the family has never lost sight of their focus which is we need to bring him home. >> our sympathies go out to the family of katherine speicher. cindy, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you very much, contessa. the latest on sarah palin. she's keeping a lower profile since she left office. she made time for the national rifle association seminar in anchorage. she spoke and attended the dinner with her husband, todd, although not all politicians get such a warm welcome lately. [ shouting ] >> that was a town hall for the health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius and

senator arlen specter. in the past few months democrats across the country from new york to florida to virginia and iowa, we're seeing a series of town hall gone wild here. let's bring in josh kroshauer, a writer for politico. what is the prevailing sense that these town halls take when people stand up and start shouting. >> it's important to put context to the situation. town halls are usually pretty quiet affairs. you have a few different people who show up and talk about the issues of the day. over the last month, we've seen a lot of conservatives, a lot of republican activists storm into these town hall meetings and raise some serious and angry questions about the member's votes on health care, the stimulus, energy legislation. and they've really made their voices heard very loudly. contessa, these aren't just happening in conservative and

republican parts of the country. the ham tons was the location of one of the most loud and angry protests where the police had to escort democratic congressman out of his own town hall. this is a long island district in the ham tons where one of these town halls went wild. >> now you have lawmakers deciding against holding town halls because they say you can't really accomplish everything if everyone is shouting and can't have civil discourse. >> democrats are starting to use teletown halls which means a conference call with the member of congress with their constituents instead of going to the actual meeting place themselves. the benefit is it doesn't have the republican protesters and doesn't allow them to come to the events. at the same time it doesn't allow members to have the same kind of relationship with their constituents. these are members that are concerned they might have a tough time winning re-election and they need to get out to as many locals as possible. that doesn't help them at all. >> i do get there are people out

there -- if you're at a forum on health care and somebody is holding up a bible and saying it's the only truth, you have to wonder what does that contribute to how we get health care for all people. but on the other hand, josh, i think back, and from what i've read about the way our founding fathers came up with the declaration of independence, the constitution and even deciding whether to revolt against the british, a lot of that was done with a lot of anger and a lot of shouting in closed rooms. >> an interesting point, contessa. one of the protests you mentioned took place in philadelphia at the national constitution center. hundreds of protesters in downtown philadelphia were complaining about the health care legislation where senator specter and kathleen sebelius were. there's a lot of republicans, a lot of conservative republicans in particular that are going all over the country that have a lot of rage. they're invoking 1776 as part of

their reasons. >> maybe the thing to do is preempt -- if you see someone walking in with a prop, a birth certificate, say, or a bible, then maybe you preempt it and go what are you here to accomplish? what's your goal? and let's go from there. josh, good to talk with you. thank you. >> thanks for having me. they will be the envy of show and tell this fall. according to the new york times, sasha and malia obama are having the best summer ever. they've been to the eiffel tower, they've been to africa. they have concerts and birthday parties. but lest you think it's all fun and games, it's not. those trips also have a fair amount of history devoted to them and getting a lot of lessons in healthy living, for instance, exercising and eating vegetables. severe turbulence forced a continental jet to make an emergency landing in miami. we'll get to the airport next for a live report on how the injured are doing. dramatic pictures of the coast guard, rescuing a guy bitten by a sharp near new orleans. we'll tell you more about this amazing video coming up. carol!

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breaking news out of new york city. prosecutors have indicted former new york joints star plaxico burress on weapons charged. the 31-year-old wide receiver shot himself in the thigh in november. the gun was not licensed. no one initially called police to report the gunshots. the new york giants released burress in april. one passenger on board the plane said he felt it drop suddenly and then watched as some of the flight attendants were thrown against the ceiling. early this morning the continental jet was 36,000 feet in the sky over the atlantic on its way from brazil to texas when all of the sudden it encountered turbulence. let's go to kerry sanders who is in miami following the story. how many people were hurt seriously enough to go to the hospital? >> reporter: seriously enough to

go to the hospital, 14. four were initially in serious condition. the good news is all of their conditions have been upgraded and they're in stable condition. 14 people taken to area hospitals. there were 168 people on board. don't be fooled by the fact that only 14 went to the hospital. there were others on board who were injured but said they didn't want to seek immediate medical attention. they just wanted to change planes, get to houston, and then deal with it there. so their conditions were not in any sort of immediate nature. but nonetheless, twisted arms, hurt necks. a lot of bruises. those people who were hurt the most violently appeared to have not had their seat belts on. as the plane was at 36,000 feet and it hit the clear air turbulence, it had them hitting the ceiling of the plane. in some cases it broke the plane and their head shot through a little bit breaking open some of the plastics. one of the passengers on board,

a regular air traveler said this came from nowhere. this is what he had to say. >> i've never seen turbulence like that. i really thought we wouldn't make it. >> during the last 55 minutes we were very scared. we thought it would be that the flight -- the plane had mechanical problems. really everybody -- nobody was saying anything. everybody was really quiet. >> reporter: after the injuries on board were tallied, the authorities realized they needed to get to a different airport. they made an emergency landing at miami international airport. those injured were taken off. the paramedics who went to the scene needed to move rather quickly. a plane is pretty high off the ground. they used the scissor lifts from the catering truck to get some of the first passengers off. now everybody has been rebooked and they're on their way -- on other flights to houston.

really a harrowing day for a lot of passengers. >> kerry, thank you, appreciate that. we want to show you tape from the u.s. coast guard rescuing a fisherman after a shark attack. the victim was fishing off the louisiana coast when a shark bit his ankle, severing all the ligaments, taking off half his foot. he was airlifted to a nearby hospital. we haven't received an update on his condition. fortunately there was the coast guard to rescue him and get him to medical attention as soon as possible. you know the saying, hell has no fury as a woman scored. four women, all scorned by the same man. a married men. now those four women, one of whom is the man's wife, stand accused of tieing him up, punching him in his face and gluing his penis to his stomach. they did it because they allegedly found out he was romantically involved with all

of them. the women are free on $200 bail. we'll see where a jury takes that one on. news developing in the custody battle for michael jackson -- for his children. a permanent guardian has been named for the pop star's three kids. we'll get the latest from los angeles coming up. millions of american children more at risk for bone problems and heart disease because of a vitamin deficiency. we'll get details of that study just ahead. we've helped millions of families buy or sell a home. through good times and bad, including five previous recessions, re/max agents have provided the kind of experience amica relies on to get the job done. today, in the worst housing market most of us have ever seen, that experience is more important than ever. find out what re/max can do for you. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. everyone's talking about them. at wal-mart, their prices are unbeatable. and now we can actually do something about them.

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welcome back to msnbc. i'm contessa brewer. july unemployment numbers come out friday. already the white house saying it expects several hundred thousand more jobs will be lost. in june the nation's unemployment rate was 9.5%. right now nine million americans are using unemployment insurance as a lifeline. it's what they're using to buy groceries. soon 1.5 million of those folks will run out of benefits. that's according to the national employment law project.

christine owens is executive director of the project. christine, what happens? if you're unemployment, looking for work and your unemployment benefits run out? what's the alternative for these folks? >> for many folks it's to rely on their families or private charity. some folks may be driven into poverty and may have to try to qualify for welfare benefits. i want to correct one thing, which is that it's a million and a half folks who will run out of their federal unemployment benefits. a lot of those folks -- all of those folks have already used up their state benefits and are now collecting federal unemployment benefits. but because the recession is so bad and job loss is so great, and unemployment is so high, they haven't been able to find jobs, and they're about to run out of their federal unemployment benefits, too. >> the traditional thinking goes, you don't want to extend unemployment benefits because it discourages people from looking for work. but right now, i would think

even the most industrious job seeker is running into problems finding jobs to replace the ones they lost. >> that's true. we're losing hundreds of thousands of jobs every single month. unemployment is continuing to rise. there are six unemployed workers for every single new job opening. and every single state has seen unemployment increases over the last year. so it's not a situation in which anyone who wants to find a job can easily do so. >> let me ask you, i know that congress is now considering a 13-week extension, adding on 13 more weeks that people can get those federal unemployment benefits, especially in areas where the unemployment rate is highest across the nation. does that solve the immediate most pressing problem? >> well, it would solve it for some people. we certainly don't think it is enough. every single state has experienced significant unemployment growth over the last year. and there are not enough jobs anyplace in america for people

who are unemployed to find work. so we think that every state should get additional weeks of benefits, and they should be tiered so states that have the highest unemployment rates should get more. but we think long-term unemployed workers in every state need those additional benefits and should be able to get them. >> do you, christine, extrapolate out the consequences of allowing people to go off unemployment insurance with no other safety net? i'm assuming welfare is still an option at some point, you're getting aid, especially food stamps and things like that. have you looked ahead and thought about houses being foreclosed on, the effect that that has on these communities? >> you're absolutely right. what we can do is look back. we know if we look back to the 2001 recession and people who collected the extended benefits compared to those who were not able to do so, that the of poverty rate was twice as high among families that could not

collect benefits azam month those that were able to collect benefits and people are something like four times more likely to lose their homes if they don't have unemployment benefits than if they do. at the beginning of this recession, foreclosures were largely a result of the subprime mortgage crisis. that's not true anymore. the foreclosures we're seeing now are because of rising unemployment. it's bad now, but it will be much worse if a million and a half families run out of benefits and have no other place to turn. >> i've got to tell you, when you're hearing the argument made that americans are partly at fault for all these foreclosures, i don't know many people who at all who could afford their homes if they lost their jobs for any extended time. christine, good of you to join us. appreciate that. >> thank you. big breaking news coming in. an earthquake that has hit baja, california, a 6.9. that is a significant earthquake. baja, california, is the little

strip of land that runs south of california along the mexican coastline at the very tip of it would be cabo san lucas, the baja peninsula, a big tourist destination for a lot of americans. right now you're looking in on google map where the epicenter is for baja, california. this is coming to us from knsd, an earthquake measuring 6.9 struck in mexico. san diego city hall actually was evacuated soon after the rattling began. it apparently struck at about 11:00 a.m. that would be habit half an hour ago 50 miles north of santa ysabel. we have knsd news crews now heading toward the epicenter right now. again, it's a 6.9. we're hearing from chula vista which is south of san diego that they didn't even feel the

shaking here. but san diego city hall did apparently feel it and was evacuated. now 6.9 earthquake, a significant earthquake for baja, california. again, that's in mexico. we're getting the word from knsd. when i get new details, i'll pass them on to you. the obama administration is looking to create a courtroom prison complex in the united states to house suspected terror suspects from guantanamo bay. the administration is considering a maximum security prison in michigan, and the military penitentiary at fort eleven worth, kansas. currently 229 terror suspects are jailed at guantanamo. the corruption trial of a louisiana congressman trial continues. he's accused of receiving more than $400,000 in bribes and soliciting millions more in exchange for using his influence to broker business deals in africa. in 2005 federal officials

searched washington's home and found cash hidden in his freezer, about $90,000. a judge has given permanent guardianship of michael jackson's three children to his mother katherine. the deal was worked up last week between katherine jackson and debbie rowe, the mother of the two older children. just before the judge made his rumg, a little confusion by jackson's former dermatology, arnie klein and his attorney. courtney hazlett is at the courthouse. what's the deal with arnie klein, courtney? >> reporter: is anything about this unweird, contessa? right before everything was about to begin, arnie klein's attorney, mark vincent kaplan, who represented kevin federline in his custody case with britney spears, he says his client has unique interest in this custody case and wanted him factored in as well. the judge basically shot him

down. i'm told that arnie klein and his attorney are still meeting right now going over what happened this morning. so it makes me believe that there might be more to come from these two at least. >> all right. let's talk a little bit about how many attorneys are there, because this afternoon comes -- maybe the custody of the kids is, while not simple by any stretch of the imagination, simpler than his estate, i know there's a lot of people with a visited interest in what happens to michael jackson's estate. what are you learning? >> according to one of the reporters we have inside the courtroom right now, they counted 17 attorneys, contessa. that amounts to attorneys not just for the family but also for aeg, for the merchandising firm that is rereleasing michael jackson's book "moon walk," basically anybody with any sort of financial interest is inside the courtroom right now because if they don't appear or file paperwork that says, listen, we care about what happens financially to michael jackson,

they're basically implying that they don't care about any money that's left to them that needs to be paid. a lot of these vendors didn't get paid before michael jackson died. unless they speak up today in some way, shape or form, whether verbally or through a filing like aeg did today, they can't have any sort of say in how things go after this. >> all right, courtney, thank you very much. appreciate that. back to the breaking news we're following out of southern california. it appears that san diego city hall was evacuated after some rattling was felt. in santa ysabel la, baja -- you see the center on this google map, this is baja, california, which is actually mexico. apparently there was a 6.9 magnitude quake there in baja. many of the folks who live in and around san diego are reporting that they did not feel anything. again, a 6.9 magnitude quake is significant. however, you might expect that there's not a lot of damage because most of baja is sparsely

populated at max. most of the people in baja live down toward that southern tip, down near cabo san lucas. there's mostly mountains and desert in much of the baja peninsula. we're working to get information about whether there's significant damage at the epicenter and how much people in san diego felt. quick break here. we'll be right back. [ announcer ] you make healthy choices every day-- oh, max! and you want to do the same for your laughable, lovable dog. [ barks ]

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we're following breaking news from baja, california. there's been a major earthquake in baja which is in mexico. this peninsula you're looking at, the epicenter was about 355 miles southeast of tijuana. again, it apparently was felt as far away as san diego. there are some reports that san diego city hall felt some rattling, and the city hall was

evacuated, but again, this would happen if that were the case in a pretty remote part of the peninsula of baja, california, a place that is sparsely populated. again, a 6.9 is a significant magnitude quake. new information coming in to us now. the usgs in golden, colorado, confirming to nbc news, 6.9 magnitude quake hit off the coast of baja, california. also there may be an investigation now about whether there are after shocks. we're looking into this right now. we'll continue to bring you up to date as we get more information to us here at msnbc. the status quo is unacceptable. that's been the president's mantra on health care. now "newsweek" is turning the message on its head with an ironic look. jonathan alter is columnist for

"newsweek." good to see you today. >> hi, contessa. >> somewhat of a devil's advocate. >> more in the category of satire. not everybody online when they read it at newsweek.com got the joke. my point was to try to nak a case for the status quo as a way of explaining how completely ridiculous and unsustainable the status quo is. i said i like a system where if i were to lose the job and have a recurrence of the cancer i had a few years ago, that i would be unable to get health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. i would then under our current system have a choice between selling my house to pay for the treatment since i wouldn't be insurable or dying which i call a post-existing condition. i just sort of put my tongue in my cheek and wrote a case in defense of a system that doesn't

protect people should they lose their jobs, that gives all the power to insurance company to cancel your policy if you try to collect on it and a whole wide variety of other just abuses in the current system as a way of saying that the people who want to stop this bill, who are saying right now no bill, they need to confront the consequences of no bill. the status quo is a disaster, contessa. >> that's what i don't get. jonathan, i have a hard time with this. i was interviewing a mississippi congressman last week whose son has fragile x, for much of his son's childhood they couldn't get health insurance. i said to him, i mean, is the status quo okay with you? he said, well, people can get health coverage, they do get health care by going to emergency rooms. i don't get -- i honestly -- >> that's a wonderful system. you know what that does, contessa?

that actually wrecks or health care system. when people ron der why am i paying $70 for a pill, the reason is because people in the other part of the hospital without insurance are being treated. and for the hospital to pay to treat those uninsured patients in the emergency room, they have to sock it to everybody else. so the idea of defending that as a system is ridiculous. >> are the republicans who are fighting against this really saying, let's go status quo? >> yes, they're saying status quo. >> the other alternative here is some of what we're talking about now, paying for everybody to have the kind of health care that congressmen and senators get seems exorbitant. >> actually overtime, there are actually transition costs which is what they're trying to get paid for on capitol hill. overtime it will either save money or it will wreck the economy, which is what they're talking about now, trying to bend that cross curve. the current level of inflation

in health care spending is unsustainable. the average family, it costs them about $9,000 a year now. it's headed up to $25,000 a year in the next 15 years. >> that's exorbitant. >> that is not sustainable. so the status quo, it's like a meteor directed at the economy. this idea that somehow if we just like do a little here, a little here, sometimes you'll hear republicans say, let's just limit malpractice. that will solve the problem. they've tried that contessa in california and texas. two of our largest states, over the last several years, it hasn't done a thing to address the problem. you can have an argument over what the conform will consist of that's an intellectually serious argument. there is no intellectually serious argument for saying no bill, stop, kill the democrat's bill, make them just leave things the way they are. there has to be an alternative. >> it will be interesting to see

whether the democrats' new strategy of linking the republicans who say no with the insurance industry, whether that's effective and get stints on their side. thank you, jonathan swift, i mean jonathan alter. >> thanks, contessa. we're following breaking news out of baja a, mexico, 6. magnitude earthquake. we're getting it from the u.s. gee logical society. we'll get more information about how much damage is caused. this may be in a very remote area of mexico. we'll get you up to date after a quick break. ows tylenol doesn't interfere with certain high blood pressure medicines the way aleve sometimes can. that's one reason why doctors recommend tylenol more than any other brand of pain reliever. ever wonder how cheez-it bakes... so much real cheese in such small bites? ♪

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good day everyone. i'm contessa brewer. we're following breaking news now out of mexico. the peninsula south of baja peninsula has seen a significant earthquake here, 6.9 magnitude quake. apparently the city hall in san

diego felt some rattling and evacuated city hall. but other people are reporting they have not felt that earthquake at all. let me bring in bob bazell just south of san diego right now with me on the phone. what did you feel, bob, anything? >> contessa, i felt absolutely nothing. we're covering a completely different story. this earthquake is a gigantic earthquake. it was centered in the ocean in the gulf of mexico about 150 miles south of san diego. we're about ten miles south of san diego. it also could have been felt along the arizona border, closer to the earthquake epicenter than san diego is. the closest -- again, i emphasize it was in the water. the closest mexican city is air mow see i don't which is directly south, about 75 to 100 miles south of no galley. it was an area within the water.

if an earthquake of this magnitude had struck a land area, especially a heavily populated land area, it could cause very severe damage. but this, we don't know if this did at all. so the -- the camera is focusing in on the area in the middle -- on the gulf of mexico, the water to the right -- on the right hand screen that you see there. >> we're also -- we're hearing also that a phoenix fire department spokesperson said that that department, since you mentioned arizona, hasn't received any reports of collapse or damage, anything that might be expected after a significant major earthquake. so again, we'll wait and hear some reports. there's big tourist hot spots there where bob mentioned in mexico just south of arizona. so we'll wait and hear whether there are damage reports. again, much of this area is

sparsely populated. so you may see most of the damage to be pretty insignificant compared to if it happened in a major urban setting. bob bazell, thanks a lot for that. i'm contessa brewer and appreciate that you spent a little time with me this the afternoon. tamron hall and david schuster pick things up next. they'll have more on the three american hikers missing in iran. is there a danger now that iran could use these folks as pawns? quick break here. has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen. so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free.

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fortune. never a good idea to absolutely rule things out no matter what. >> will president obama raise taxes on the middle class? some of his top advisers seemed to leave the door open this weekend. today the white house may have just slammed it shut. cash for clunkers is a hit with the public. republicans claim the program deserves to be in the junk yard. >> i just think this is a great example of the stupidity that's coming out of washington right now. >> a major showdown now loom ins the senate. also, who is to blame when a college grad cannot find a job? a woman is suing to get her tuition back in today's "crossing the line." good afternoon everybody. good afternoon tamron. i'm david shuster live in washington. >> good to have you back, david. i'm tamron hall live in new york. starting with breaking news. two separate earthquakes hitting mexico today on the baja peninsula, the first 5.8, the second is 6.9. no reports of damage yet.

we're hearing that hundreds of miles to the north in san diego workers did briefly evacuate city hall. nbc's robert bazell south of the city reports they did not feel anything there, but waiting to get more word on any aftershocks or details on any possible damage after those two quakes. also david, in our big picture today, it's been four days, where are three american tourists captured in iran? swiss dim mats are working on behalf of the u.s. to find out more about the fate of those missing americans and what has happened to them? the tourists were hiking as we reported last night in northern iraq. they reportedly got lost, straying across the border into iran. iranian state television says that is where iranian gasts arrested those tourists. just a few hours ago, secretary of state hillary clinton has not yet gotten official confirmation of the arrests. >> we are